Game #9 AT Carolina Panthers Review

Outside of the first drive and a portion of the second half, the offense struggled but the defense came through in flying colors allowing only 2 field goals in the game.

Here’s what I saw:

Offense:

Running game: Dunn (26/89, 1 TD), Pinner (1/-3) and Harrington (1/2). Effective Runs (4 yards or more)-Dunn, 7. Dunn also had 3 catches for 51. He was a majority of the offense in the game.

Breakdown of passes:

Harrington: 19/26, 192 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. Breakdown of incompletions: 3 Bad passes, 3 Passes defended and 1 Drop. Joey made some good plays and managed the game. From what I saw, 2 of the defended passes could have possibly been completions with more arm strength. Also, there were a couple of short completions on 3rd down that he had plenty of time on and could have looked past the sticks to continue the drive.

Run blocking: Outside of the short yardage push issue still existing, I noticed that our linemen aren’t getting to the second level. This contributed heavily to Dunn’s low YPC number. Had the blocking gotten to the second level (linebackers in particular) then more yards would have been gained but with the linebackers roaming free, they were able to quickly close the hole for a 1 or 2 yard gain.

Pass blocking: Much, much better this week. Hopefully, the improvement is a sign of things to come. The sacks that did occur were due to guards not coming off their double teams to pick up a stunt or a delayed linebacker blitz.

Sack responsibility (2): Forney was engaged in a double-team and didn’t pull off to pick up Diggs in time. The second sack was a result of a stunt by Rucker that Blalock didn’t pick up in time.

Note: QB responsible sacks are those that he has at least 3 seconds and either chose to try to scramble or stayed in the pocket when the better decision would be to throw it away. Also includes those rushing attempts that go for 0 or negative yardage that for some reason are counted as a sack.

Defense:

Run defense: Very stout effort allowing only 90 yards on 28 carries.

Pass Defense: Very good. Noticeably better on RB’s and TE’s and a very good effort all around.

Sacks: Rod Coleman got both sacks.

Special Teams:

Jennings had 3 kickoff returns and no touchbacks: 1. from the goal line, 25 yards; 2. from the 11, 21 yards; 3. from the 3, 21 yards. Solid day returning.

Jennings had 5 punt returns and 1 fair catches: 1. from the ATL 15, -2 yards; 2. from the ATL 30, 7 yards; 3. from the ATL 31, 2 yards; 4. from the ATL 21, 6 yards (negated by illegal block by McIntyre); 5. from the ATL 32, 23 yards. Not a lot of opportunity to do much but came through on the last one to set up the game-winning TD.

Kickoffs: Koenen had 5 kickoffs: 1. to the 4, 28 yard return; 2. to the 1, 28 yard return; 3. to the -2, 21 yards; 4. to the end zone, touchback; 5. to the 27, 14 yard return. Very good day for Koenen.

Field Goals: Andersen went 2/2. Good from 36 and 47. Absolutely no doubt that 47 is his limit.

Special Teams coverage: Very spotty. Robinson had a pretty good day for the Panthers.

Things that really need improvement:

1. O-line needs to get more push and reach the second level.2. Eliminate negative yardage plays (penalties, negative rushes, and sacks).3. More throws beyond 10 yards.